Can you believe it is already November?! What an exciting month to begin diving in to the holiday season in the special education classroom.
Thanksgiving
At the end of the month, I love to throw a Thanksgiving Feast with my students. We always invite our related service providers and district administrators to join in the festivities. This is one of my favorite hands-on projects we do each year!
We practice reading skills by following a shopping list...
My gingerbread units have some excellent activities for my Shared Reading and Shared Writing instructional times.
The predictable text of The Gingerbread Man is always so much fun for my students. I love incorporating it into our sentence-building boards or using it as a script on a student's switch.
Now that routines are well established and classroom behavior is well managed, I am able to spend more time daily on literacy instruction so I have also introduced some phonics activities including phonological awareness activities and my letter of the day activities which I created through my research of the Science of Reading and how it applies to my students with the complex learning needs.
Comprehensive Literacy Instruction is essential in today's classrooms, including self-contained classrooms and cross-categorical resource rooms. In many cases, reading and writing instruction has fallen by the wayside for our most complex learners however the push toward implementing the Science of Reading in all classrooms emphasizes the need for a shift.
Comprehensive Literacy for All: Teaching Students with Significant Disabilities to Read and Write by Karen Erickson Ph.D and David Koppenhaver Ph.D. provides Science of Reading research specific to our students with significant disabilities and provides some practical guidance and has been vital to teaching me (and many other teachers) the essential skills needed to incorporate the Science of Reading in our special education classrooms!
**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. I only recommend products that I use and love!**
Shared Writing is one component of Comprehensive Literacy Instruction and a highly effective strategy for engaging students with complex needs in shared writing instruction is Predictable Chart Writing (PCW). PCW provides predictability, offers seamless integration of communication, and can be utilized as an activity for the entire classroom, small groups, or even individual sessions.
Each step in the Predictable Chart Writing Routine takes place during a new session. Typically, this is done during daily writing instruction over the course of a school week.
Step 1: Write the Chart (Monday)
Choose a sentence stem. Possible topics could include the current classroom theme, responding to a recent reading passage, or incorporating the use of core words.
The students provide a personalized response to the sentence stem.
Provide response options using picture-supported icons or AAC devices for students who struggle with word retrieval or expressive communication.
Then, the teacher scribes the response on the chart while saying each part aloud. A pocket chart can be a great alternative!
Finally, the group will choral read each sentence when done.
For non-speaking students, utilize AAC such as a big mack switch, communication board, or communication device to facilitate participation. See the example video below:
Step 2: Reread the Chart (Tuesday)
First, the group will reread the entire chart chorally as the teacher points to each word.
Then, provide opportunities for individual students to find words such as a targeted core word or content vocabulary.
Next, focus on a specific element (letter, word, convention) when done.
Finally, reread a final time.
Step 3: Work with Sentence Strips (Wednesday)
First, the group will reread the entire chart chorally as the teacher points to each word.
Next, pass out each student’s contribution to them on sentence strips.
You can either prepare these sentence strips ahead of time or use this activity as an opportunity to model.
Then, demonstrate how to cut the sentence apart into words (after each cut, reread) and reorder.
Eventually, start reordering incorrectly to help students see if the sentence makes sense.
Allow students to make mistakes! These are opportunities to recheck work/check for what makes sense.
After developing an understanding, students will cut apart their own sentences.
Step 4: Be the Sentence (Thursday)
First, the group will reread the entire chart chorally as the teacher points to each word.
Then, choose a sentence and give each student a word from the sentence.
Next, have them physically arrange themselves to reorder the sentence
Repeat for 3-4 sentences.
Finally, end with a final choral reading of sentences
Step 5: Make and Publish the Book (Friday)
First, the group will reread the entire chart chorally as the teacher points to each word.
Then, pass out individual sentences typed/written for book.
You can either prepare these sentence strips ahead of time or use this activity as an opportunity to model.
Next, they will glue their ordered sentence onto their paper.
Then, students will add illustrations
They can use their own drawings or find pictures on Google images.
Finally, students will share their book page before adding it to the finished class book for the classroom library.
You can also publish the class book to Tarheel Reader or Bookcreator.com for independent reading with technology or at home.
To see Predictable Chart Writing in action with a group of learners at a variety of instructional levels, check out this video:
For more information on Comprehensive Literacy Instruction for All and how I have used it to incorporate the Science of Reading into the special education classroom check out my previous post:
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